Digital Latchkey

2005 NetDay Speak Up Survey Results

2006-11-14T15:18:00.000-08:00

Now in its fourth year, NetDay Speak Up is an annual national research project that collects the voices and views of key stakeholders in education on topics such as educational technology, science, math, and 21st workforce skills. Over the past three years the project has collected the viewpoints of over 562,000 K-12 students from all 50 states, as well as 26,000 teachers.
http://www.netday.org/speakup/pdfs/SpeakUpReport_05.pdf

Xanga fined for letting kids under 13 get accounts

2006-09-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

FTC fines Xanga for violating kids' privacy
$1 million penalty against social networking site is largest under 1998 law
MSNBC, Posted Sept 7, 2006, :
By Bob Sullivan, Technology correspondent

Excerpt: "In its complaint, the FTC alleged that Xanga, a rival to the popular MySpace.com, allegedly permitted creation of 1.7 million accounts by users who submitted birthdays indicating they were under 13. Collecting personal information from anyone under 13 without parental consent is a violation of the children's protection act, or COPPA, which was passed by Congress in 1998."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14718350/from/ET/

Facebook faces complaints about profile tracking feature

2006-09-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

From The Chronicle Of Higher Education
Wired Campus Blog, September 6, 2006
New Facebook Feature Prompts Complaints
Excerpt: "Whether Megan changes her relationship status from “single” to “it’s complicated,” or Ike removes Must Love Dogs from his list of favorite movies, Facebook users can now find out on the “News Feed,” which compiles a list of profile updates on the Facebook home page. Complementing the News Feed is the “Mini-Feed,” which tracks a personal profile and documents the Facebook activity of that person.
Complaining that the features represent an invasion of privacy, upset users have created dozens of Facebook groups protesting the new features, which were introduced Tuesday morning. One of the largest groups has more than 225,000 members, a number that seems to grow by the second, who pledge not to update their profile until the new features are removed or significantly modified."
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/1545/
new-facebook-feature-prompts-complaints

Follow up:
Facebook's Creator Admits That New Features Flopped, but College Officials Sense a Teachable Moment
By SAMANTHA HENIG, Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept 11 2006
Excerpt:The creator of Facebook, the popular social-networking Web site, responded on Friday to criticism of two new features that many users have attacked as a violation of their privacy.
Since a September 5 redesign that introduced the new features, users have been greeted by a "News Feed" when they log on to the site. Functioning like an RSS feed, the News Feed compiles a list of everything that everyone tagged as a friend has done on Facebook. Whether a friend changes his relationship status, updates his favorite books, comments on a photograph, or posts a message, that action is relayed through the News Feed.
http://chronicle.com/daily/2006/09/2006091101t.htm

Follow up:
Facebook and Other Social-Networking Sites Raise Questions for Administrators
Roundtable in: The Chronicle of Higher Education Sept 11 2006, By BROCK READ AND JEFFREY R. YOUNG
Excerpt: The attention that Facebook has generated has given college administrators plenty of incentive to consider whether their institutions should issue warnings about the site. The Chronicle recently discussed Facebook with a panel of officials who have wrestled with the issue.
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i48/48a02901.htm
http://chronicle.com
Section: Information Technology
Volume 52, Issue 48, Page A29

Pop culture - Abbrev's in our speech?

2006-09-07T08:41:00.000-07:00

OMG! LOL That was so awk!
Internet abbreviations find their way into common speech
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
(From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel), Posted: Sept. 4, 2006

Excerpt: "Not only is the Internet changing how we work and play, it's changing how we talk.
Most def, agrees Archna Eniasivam, 20, of Coral Springs, Fla.
That's "most definitely" for everyone still speaking in whole words.
Now that the Internet has fueled an explosion of written shorthand, verbal shorthand couldn't be far behind."
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=489933

Academic - Using social sites to preview roommates

2006-09-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

Judging Roommates by Their Facebook Cover
Freshmen go online to check out the students they will live with — and reach some early conclusions
From the Chronicle of Higher Education, dated September 1, 2006
By ELIZABETH F. FARRELL

Excerpt: "Some college officials say they are receiving more complaints than ever before, as students go online to collect personal information about their peers. This year many incoming freshmen used Facebook and MySpace, two social-networking Web sites, to do research on their future roommates.

Facebook was available only to college students until last September, when it was expanded to include high-school students. The site now has 7.5 million registered users, at 2,200 colleges and 22,000 high schools.

In the profiles that they create on Facebook and MySpace, students post photos, quotes, inside jokes, and lists of their favorite bands and TV shows.

While such informal online profiles can help strangers to break the ice before move-in day, they can also cause alarm. Now a student's fondness for cartoons or penchant for punk rock can annoy a roommate before the two ever meet. As a result, administrators are spending more time dealing with Facebook fretting before students even matriculate."
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i02/02a06301.htm

YouTube launches colleges feature

2006-08-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

YouTube Launches YouTube Colleges, Follows Facebook
Mashable, August 31, 2006, By Pete Cashmore

Excerpt: YouTube has just launched a new feature, Colleges on YouTube, which provides closed communities for students, staff, and alumni of US colleges and universities. Just like Facebook, users must have a valid .edu address to participate, although existing users can change their email address. The service currently serves 30 major US colleges and universities, with many more coming soon. Members have access to private video “pools”, which could include party videos and clips from college sports games.
http://mashable.com/2006/08/31/youtube-launches-youtube-colleges-follows-facebook/

Academic (?) - iPod tops beer on campus

2006-08-31T15:57:00.000-07:00

iPods knock over beer mugs
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY - Updated 6/7/2006 11:20 PM ET
Excerpt: That iPods are "in" on college campuses might not surprise you. That Apple's portable music players are more popular than beer? Now that's surprising.
Beer traditionally has had the biggest buzz with college students: Seventy-five percent consider drinking beer "in" on their campuses, according to Student Monitor's Lifestyle & Media Study.
Only once in the past decade of the biannual survey, in 1997, was beer bumped from the top spot — by the Internet, says Student Monitor's Eric Weil. The Ridgewood, N.J., research firm surveyed a representative group of 600 students.
Among the findings:
• iPods were the No. 1 "in" thing on campuses; 73% of students mentioned it. iPods were even more popular with Hispanic students (77%) and women (76%).
• Drinking beer tied with the college networking site Facebook.com (71%).
• Nos. 4 to 10 were drinking other alcohol (67%), text messaging (66%), downloading music (66%), going to clubs (65%), instant messaging (63%), working out (62%) and coffee (60%).
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-06-07-ipod-tops-beer_x.htm

Mashable: Facebook - The Complete Biography

2006-08-31T15:27:00.000-07:00

From The Chronicle's WiredCampus Blog, August 30, 2006
A Brief History of Facebook
For those few college officials who have managed, somehow, to stay in the dark about Facebook, Mashable! has put together a useful primer on the popular social-networking site.
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/1532/a-brief-history-of-facebook

Peer to Peer and the RIAA education effort

2006-08-31T15:09:00.000-07:00

The New Jailhouse Rock
From The Chronicle of Higher Education's Wired Blog, August 31, 2006
Excerpt: This year, lucky students at a number of colleges are getting one more piece of guidance, courtesy of the Recording Industry Association of America: Don’t download music—or you might end up rotting in jail.
That’s the ominous message that runs through Campus Downloading, a nearly eight-minute video produced for campus-orientation sessions by the RIAA.
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/1535/the-new-jailhouse-rock

Related story:
RIAA copyright education contradictory, critics say
Advocacy groups say video offered to universities contains inaccuracies about the legality of copying music.
By Greg Sandoval Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: August 30, 2006, 3:36 PM PDT

Excerpt: The music industry's educational video about copyright law is full of baloney, according to several trade and public interest groups.

The Consumer Electronics Association and Public Knowledge are among the groups to issue a joint statement condemning some statements on the Recording Industry Association of America's video, which the RIAA has plans to distribute to the nation's universities.
http://news.com.com/RIAA+copyright+education+contradictory%
2C+critics+say/2100-1027_3-6111118.html?tag=nefd.top

New Child Safety Links

2006-08-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

Parents shaky about kids' safety online
By Stefanie Olsen, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: August 10, 2006 9:00 AM PDT
The majority of parents say they've taken some action to ensure their child's safety online, but at least some will admit they're clueless about how to protect kids.
http://news.com.com/2009-1025-6104028.html?tag=tb

Packet Level's Internet Safety for Kids
This project is focused on supporting leaders who will present courses on the topic of Internet safety to parents, teachers and anyone else who may be able to help education kids/youths regionally.
Info, Links, Resources
http://www.packet-level.com/kids/

Chat Rooms and Kids

2006-08-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

Chat rooms pose growing threat to Irish kids
Monday, July 31 2006, by Maxim Kelly

"A shocking 11 percent of Irish children who have met adults posing as children online report they have been subject to attempted physical harm.
While a new survey on internet usage amongst nine- to 16-year-olds in Ireland shows most young people use the internet to meet their peers and reported a positive experience, the Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, said the findings were very worrying.
'This survey contains a wealth of information about how our young people are using all forms of modern technology to access the internet and communicate through it. Worryingly though, it seems very often that parents are not fully aware of the hidden dangers that are part the emergence of these new technologies,' she said."

And further...
"Over half of the 850 children surveyed said that their parents spoke with them very rarely or not at all about what they did on the internet, Twenty-seven percent said they had met someone new on the internet who asked for information like their photo, phone number, street address, or which school they attend: this is up from 19 percent in 2003."
http://www.electricnews.net/news.html?code=9755339

Social Networks with Spyware

2006-08-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

Beware of malware on social sites: report
Wednesday, August 09 2006, by Maxim Kelly

"Social networking sites are behind a surge in viruses, spyware and other 'nasty stuff', according to web security firm ScanSafe's monthly report.
According to an analysis of more than 5 billion web requests in July, ScanSafe found that on average, up to one in 600 profile pages on social networking sites hosted some form of malware.
The company also reported that the use of social networking sites, often assumed to be popular only amongst teens, accounted for approximately 1 percent of all internet use in the workplace."

http://www.electricnews.net/news.html?code=9764114

Pew/Internet: Teens and Content Creation

2006-08-09T16:52:00.000-07:00

From the Pew Internet and American Life Project:
Teen Content Creators and Consumers
"More than half of online teens have created content for the internet; and most teen downloaders think that getting free music is easy to do.

American teenagers today are utilizing the interactive capabilities of the internet as they create and share their own media creations. Fully half of all teens and 57% of teens who use the internet could be considered Content Creators. They have created a blog or webpage, posted original artwork, photography, stories or videos online or remixed online content into their own new creations."
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/
PIP_Teens_Content_Creation.pdf

GenTech - CBS News Stories, resources

2006-08-09T16:24:00.000-07:00

Worth checking out - a number of stories, statistics, interviews, etc.
GenTech: The Wiring of Teen America
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/gentech/main500695.shtml

About DOPA (Deleting Online Predators Act)

2006-08-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

Deleting Online Predators Act of 2006

From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deleting_Online_Predators_Act
Includes some links and references, but possibly not up to date.

Discussion: MySpace and Deleting Online Predators Act (DOPA)
The following interview with Henry Jenkins (co-director of the Comparative Media Studies Program at MIT) and danah boyd (PhD student at the School of Information, University of California-Berkeley) was conducted via email by Sarah Wright of the MIT News Office.
http://www.danah.org/papers/MySpaceDOPA.html

Cyberbullying on the rise

2006-08-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

Cyberbullying the newest threat to kids
From MSNBC RedTape
Wednesday, August 9 at 10:00 am CT by Bob Sullivan

"There's good news and bad news out this morning about the dangers facing children when they go online. It appears all the news reports and educational efforts to warn parents and kids about online dangers may be having an impact.
In a study released today by the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, fewer kids report being solicited by strangers online for sex. On the other hand, there is an uptick in kids who report being exposed to unwanted sexual material such as pornographic spam; and there's a sharp rise in something experts call cyberbullying. If you're not familiar with that term, you will be soon."
http://redtape.msnbc.com/2006/08/cyberbully_the_.html

See also:
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/
Links include: what is it? :: how it works :: why cyberbully? :: prevention :: take action :: what's the law?

Update: Aug 10 2006
Stephen Downes, on his OLDaily newsletter said:
"Cyberbullying isn't that new, though it is a recent arrival in the newly DOPA-aware political environment. All the statistics I have ever seen indicate that cyber-bullying is a bigger problem than on line predation. So will shutting down access to MySpace help? No, because then the bullies will just go back to good old-fashioned schoolyard bullying."

I think this misses the point to a certain extent. I commented:
I'm guessing that while MySpace certainly contributes to the problem, it isn't necessarily at the nexus of the whole issue.
The link I posted (http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/ - one of Parry Aftab's WiredSafety projects) describes the many forms that cyberbullying takes on, whether it is chats, blogs, IM, and so on - these are all network-based venues for bullying to take place.
One of the things that is different here is opposed to "classical" schoolyard bullying is that the published word has much greater latency and distribution, for better and worse. Better because it can be retrieved and the bully exposed, worse because it can be dwelt on, added to, and propogated far beyond the schoolyard.

My second point is that from what I've seen, the bullies never left the good old-fashioned schoolyard - they just have an additional and at times far more psychologically effective method of bullying at their disposal.

Will DOPA stop this sort of stuff? I seriously doubt it - I have mixed feelings about DOPA in general, but it is interesting to ponder how much it might mitigate the effects if this sort of stuff can't easily take place at schools.

Linkdump - MySpace and Web safety

2006-07-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

A MySpace Cheat Sheet for Parents
By Kevin Poulsen| 02:00 AM Feb, 27, 2006
"MySpace can be unfamiliar ground to busy parents, and not everything is as it seems on the site.
So Wired News addresses some of the most pressing questions parents might have if they explore their teenager's relationship with MySpace."
This story has several valuable links to additional info.
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70287-0.html

How safe is Myspace, or other websites and chat rooms?
"These stories are tragic and true, Myspace can be a dangerous place for children to spend time unsupervised, but Myspace is not the only website that can be dangerous for children.
Any gathering place for kids can be dangerous without adult supervision."
http://grownupgeek.com/kids_safe

Kazaa P2P Network goes Legit

2006-07-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

With settlement, Kazaa casts off its pirate garb
The notorious P2P service tries to go straight, but even a multimillion-dollar deal with record labels might not be enough.

By Caroline McCarthy, Staff writer, CNET News.com
Last modified: July 27, 2006, 12:56 PM PDT

Once a bane of the recording industry for its popularity as a place to get music without paying for it, Kazaa now will begin using filtering technology to prevent its users from distributing files that infringe on copyrights. Its parent company, Sharman Networks, will pay more than $100 million to global record labels EMI Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music and Warner Music.

More...
http://news.com.com/Kazaa+settles+suits+with+100+million/
2100-1027_3-6099064.html?tag=nefd.top

MySpace Study Examines Predator Issues

2006-07-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

Study shows fear of MySpace predators is overblown
From danah boyd's Apophenia blog.

This is interesting stuff. By all means look at the study, but read through the comments that follow danah's original post. It seems to me that whether the issue is overblown comes down in part to what is an acceptable percentage of kids that are approached. Some folks say 7% is acceptable risk, some say that is still a huge number. (Seven percent of 50 million is still ** 3.5 million ** !) I say "What if your kid was one of the 7%?"
That so much of this study's data is qualitative detracts from the conclusion that the issue is indeed overblown. The fact that the study's author is hawking a book raises some motivational questions as well.

Please read the whole schmeer:
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/
2006/07/10/study_shows_fea.html

Passing your identity among web sites

2006-07-21T10:48:00.000-07:00

An interesting look at the emergence of "Identity Networks" by Stephen Downes (Identity Networks Are Here).
For example, one of the services (TypeKey) intro page says: "TypeKey is a free, open system providing you a central identity for posting comments on weblogs and logging into other websites."

It probably seems a little esoteric to the layperson right now, but I think it is something that we will all deal with in the not-too-distant future.

Stephen finishes the post by saying:
"And I think that educational providers, who have focused almost exclusively on centralized or federated approachs thus far, will have to take note. People today get their own names, addresses and phone numbers. In the future, they will get their own net identities, and the universities won't provide it for them. This then raises the wisdom of heavy investment in an alternative schools-only system."

More...
http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2006/06/
identity-networks-are-here.html

Can you hear me now? The ringtone article

2006-07-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

A Ring Tone Meant to Fall on Deaf Ears
By PAUL VITELLO, New York Times, Published: June 12, 2006
Excerpt:
"In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear.
In settings where cellphone use is forbidden — in class, for example — it is perfect for signaling the arrival of a text message without being detected by an elder of the species."

More...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/12/technology/
12ring.html?ex=1153627200&en=14be9bff15f93049&ei=5070

(Non) Funding of Technology in US Schools

2006-07-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

From the Chronicle of Higher Education Wired News blog, July 19, 2006:

Taking a Stand for Classroom Tech
Excerpt:
Michael Feldstein of e-Literate points to an "extremely important" article at eSchool News that paints a dismal picture of the United States’ commitment to classroom technology:

In Britain, it’s estimated that half of all classrooms will be outfitted with interactive electronic whiteboards by the end of this year. In Mexico, every fifth and sixth grade classroom is expected to have a computer, printer, interactive whiteboard, and projector by November.

And here in the United States, Congress is poised to eliminate millions of dollars in federal ed-tech funding at the request of the president.

More...
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/
article/1427/taking-a-stand-for-classroom-tech

Ideological Social Networks?

2006-07-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

My Political Space
New niche social-networking sites connect users based on ideological compatibility. Are they the next best campaign tool or just another way to get a date?

WEB EXCLUSIVE By Robbie Brown
Newsweek, Updated: 2:26 p.m. MT July 19, 2006

Excerpt:
"Essembly, designed last year by Joe Green, 23, a friend and former Harvard classmate of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is the emerging online social network of the serious-minded. Like Facebook and MySpace, the site is free and lets users browse friends' photos and personal information. But unlike more organic networks, it actively promotes intellectual discussion. In the spirit of collegiate debate, Essembly users spar over declarations of opinion called "resolves." They also identify other members as "allies" and "nemeses" based on ideological similarities. 'On Facebook, people rack up 'friends' like there's no tomorrow,' Green says. 'What really is missing is a connection between people based on how they think.'"

More...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
id/13940637/site/newsweek/from/ET/

BBC News: Indian Govt Bans Some Blogs

2006-07-20T10:31:00.000-07:00

India bloggers angry at net ban
By Soutik Biswas, BBC News, Delhi
Last Updated: Wednesday, 19 July 2006

India's burgeoning blogging community is up in arms against a government directive that they say has led to the blocking of their web logs.
The country's 153 internet service providers (ISP) have blocked 17 websites since last week on federal government orders.
Some of these sites belong to Google's Blogspot, a leading international web log hosting service.

More...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5194172.stm

Related:
Blog censorship handbook released
BBC News Last Updated: Thursday, 22 September 2005

A handbook that offers advice to bloggers who want to protect themselves from recrimination and censors has been released by Reporters Without Borders.
The media watchdog said it gives people who want to set up a blog tips on how to do so, how to publicise it, as well as how to establish credibility.
More...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4271062.stm

An Educator Discovers his SecondLife

2006-07-20T08:01:00.000-07:00

Terry Anderson explores the SecondLife virtual world
Excerpt:
"I did see other players walking about and engaged in a bit of text chat. The first person I really chatted with ended up giving me some new clothes to wear and answered some of my newbie questions. I probably should have taken one of the guided tours of SL or tried to hook up with a guide, but I also wanted to experience the learning curve without ‘hand holding’."

http://terrya.edublogs.org/2006/07/17/
an-educator-discovers-his-secondlife/

Social Networks Under Scrutiny (CNET Update)

2006-07-18T10:51:00.000-07:00

MySpace may face legislative crackdown.
As November election nears, Republicans say new laws are needed to protect kids from gangs, sex predators on the Net.
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: July 11, 2006, 4:35 PM PDT

"Politicians on Tuesday accused MySpace.com and other social-networking sites of failing to protect minors from sexual predators and other malign influences and said a legislative crackdown may be necessary."

http://news.com.com/MySpace+may+face+legislative+crackdown/
2100-1028_3-6092989.html

Online Video Repositories Raise Concerns

2006-07-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

Online Video Boom Raises Risks, Concerns
By MAY WONG
The Associated Press
Sunday, July 9, 2006; 10:31 PM
In: The Washington Post

Excerpt:
"Popular Web sites such as MySpace, YouTube, Yahoo, Google and soon also Microsoft Corp.'s MSN are featuring user-generated videos that quickly have become a phenomenal form of entertainment. YouTube, the leading video site that helped catapult the genre with its public launch in December, attracted more than 20 million visitors in May. The company says it averages 50,000 new video uploads per day."
and later...
"While catering to a mass audience whose entertainment tastes run the gamut, the online video Web sites are aware of the challenges they face in welcoming uncensored clips. They strive to be an open stage for budding musicians, comedians and filmmakers, but they also don't want to drive away offended viewers or advertisers.
'We are concerned about this issue and are aware that it affects most services that make video available on the Internet,' Google stated in response to the New York consumer board alert."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/
2006/07/09/AR2006070900346.html

Link-o-rama

2006-07-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

Herein a place to put links to interesting articles that generally have to do with popular digital culture, and may or may not merit an entire posting themselves.

Exploratorium's CabSpotting site:
Cabspotting traces San Francisco's taxi cabs as they travel throughout the Bay Area. The patterns traced by each cab create a living and always-changing map of city life. This map hints at economic, social, and cultural trends that are otherwise invisible.
http://cabspotting.org/
Exploratorium Digital Library is at: http://www.exploratorium.edu/educate/dl.html
Found via
http://www.assembleme.com/
AssembleMe is an information science blog written by Julius Schorzman that frequently sways off-topic.

Wow check this out -
"Population, population density, and geographic area estimates used in this map are taken from the CIA Factbook 2004, a wonderful public domain source of information."
http://www.hivegroup.com/world.html
Found via:
http://www.neoformix.com/
Found via BoingBoing (see sidebar links)

The Net Generation Goes to College
By SCOTT CARLSON
"Tech-savvy 'Millennials' have lots of gadgets, like to multitask, and expect to control what, when, and how they learn. Should colleges cater to them?"
From the Chronicle of Higher Education issue dated October 7, 2005
http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i07/07a03401.htm

Are "Digital Natives" Brains Being Rewired?

2006-07-17T15:16:00.000-07:00

Report: The next step in brain evolution
The Sunday Times July 09, 2006

Excerpt:
"To some, a world flooded with endless info bits and constant stimuli is scary; to others, it is full of possibility and fascinating questions. Are digital natives charting a new course for human intelligence? And if so, is it better, faster, smarter?"
and later on...
"Where is it all leading? Only one thing seems clear: changes propelled by the digital world are just beginning. Indeed, one of the markers between the natives and the immigrants — it’s not simply a question of age — is the intuitive acceptance of rapid digital change."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/
0,,2101-2256968,00.html

Interview with Larry Magid of BlogSafety

2006-07-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

Digital kids: Keeping kids safe on social sites
By Stefanie Olsen
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: July 17, 2006 1:50 PM PDT

Excerpt:
"News of kids on MySpace.com falling prey to after-school stalkers or creepy marriage offers has given many parents the chills about their own child's activities online.

As a result, questions like "How can I keep my child from MySpace altogether?" have become common among concerned parents. But like stopping any other teen fad, that option is a dicey proposition.

To answer some of the more common questions about social networks and blog safety, CNET News.com talked to an expert. Larry Magid launched the site Blogsafety, a social network for parents, with partner Anne Collier, and he authored the forthcoming book "MySpace Unraveled: What It Is and How to Use It Safely," which will hit bookstores Aug. 2."

http://news.com.com/Keeping+kids+safe+on+social+sites/
2009-1025_3-6095082.html

Students still want their music free

2006-07-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

The WSJ article below was cited in the Chronicle of Higher Education's July 6 2006 Wired Campus blog:
The main reason for the legal services’ lack of success seems to be that students don’t want their MP3 files coming with strings attached. A recent graduate from the University of South California sums up the problem facing Napster, Ruckus, and Cdigix: “People still want to have a music collection. Music listeners like owning their music, not renting.”

Free, Legal and Ignored
Colleges Offer Music Downloads, But Their Students Just Say No; Too Many Strings Attached
By NICK TIMIRAOS,
Wall Street Journal, July 6, 2006; Page B1

Excerpt:
As a student at Cornell University, Angelo Petrigh had access to free online music via a legal music-downloading service his school provided. Yet the 21-year-old still turned to illegal file-sharing programs.

The reason: While Cornell's online music program, through Napster, gave him and other students free, legal downloads, the email introducing the service explained that students could keep their songs only until they graduated. "After I read that, I decided I didn't want to even try it," says Mr. Petrigh, who will be a senior in the fall at the Ithaca, N.Y., school.

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/
SB115214899486099107-lMyQjAxMDE2NTAyNjEwNDY4Wj.html

Academic: Wikis in the Classroom

2006-07-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

From the Innovate Journal of Online Education
June/July 2006, Volume 2, Issue 5,
An academic article regarding wikis and potential applications in education. I think the importance of this article is in providing some insight as to the perspectives of the digital natives and how these collaborative tools will be used in schools, and hence inevitably find their way into your home.

From the introduction:
Uses and Potentials of Wikis in the Classroom
by S. Pixy Ferris and Hilary Wilder
As Prensky (2001) observes, "Our students have changed radically. Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach" (1). Prensky sees today's students as digital natives while most of today's teachers remain digital immigrants. In particular, today's educators are acculturated to a print paradigm while students are increasingly products of a digitally-based secondary-oral paradigm. Happily for educators, electronic and cyber technologies can potentially combine the best aspects of both print and secondary-oral paradigms, allowing educators to move freely across the print-oral continuum. One cyber technology enabling this movement is the wiki, a unique interface where information is not fixed (as in a print model) but fluid and flexible to meet the needs of the community (as in the pre-literate age). In this article we describe how teaching and learning have changed across oral, print, and secondary-oral paradigms; in turn, after addressing some controversies over the use of wikis as scholarly and educational resources, we advocate the use of wikis as a teaching and learning tool.
http://www.innovateonline.info/
index.php?view=article&id=258

Note that you may have to subscribe to Innovate in order to access the entire article.

Now a Wiki for eBay...

2006-07-06T13:10:00.000-07:00

eBay Wiki - world's largest commercial wiki launched
From:
Read/WriteWeb
Richard MacManus on Next Generation Web and Media
June 13, 2006 | Category: Publishing Services | 7

"eBay, in collaboration with JotSpot, has just released a new community wiki - making it almost certainly the world's largest wiki platform for a commercial website (Wikipedia is bigger, but it's non-commercial). eBay Wiki is described as "a collection of fact-based articles written and maintained by eBay Community members" and is powered by JotSpot's innovative wiki technology."
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/
ebay_wiki_world.php

I note with a grin that the two most recent articles today (July 6) are:
"Adult Magazine on Ebay - Where & How to Find them & List them"
and
"Profit or Save Money via Misspelled Auctions on eBay"

Happy auctioning!

Parenting and MySpace

2006-07-05T14:53:00.000-07:00

MySpace, a place without MyParents
Scott Granneman, SecurityFocus, 2006-06-30

Scott Granneman looks at the mass hysteria surrounding MySpace social security issues, examines a collection of frightening reports, and then discusses the real issue of parenting and parental supervision behind keeping our children safe.

Excerpt:
"...At that point I realized the awful truth: lots of people just don't know how to raise their kids.
The same situation holds true for MySpace. The company can hire all the security officers it wants, and it could replace every ad with a flashing banner that says "DO NOT TRUST RANDOM STRANGERS!!!", and send fliers to every parent in America ... and bad things would still happen to kids connected to MySpace. A lot of parents aren't very good at parenting, and part of being a teenager is saying and doing stupid things (I'm example number one for that particular precept), trying to socialize as much as possible, and worrying at the same time about your hair and your weight and your zits and your clothes."

Lots of interesting, useful, and disturbing links contained in the article.http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/408

Peer-to-peer is alive and well...

2006-07-05T12:48:00.002-07:00

Illegal file sharing showing no letup
By John Boudreau
San Jose Mercury News
Monday, July 3, 2006

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A year after the Supreme Court's landmark Grokster decision — which set out to curb online theft of music and movies — illegal file sharing is as popular as ever even as Silicon Valley technologists and Hollywood moguls continue their awkward embrace.
...and further down:
...Meanwhile, file sharing, most of which is illegal, continues to grow. Nearly 10 million users worldwide simultaneously clicked into peer-to-peer technology in May — 12 percent more than in May 2005, according to BigChampagne, a Los Angeles research firm that monitors file sharing.
"The social-networking aspect of the Internet is continuing to blossom, and no landmark court decision or watershed event changes that," BigChampagne Chief Executive Eric Garland said.

Article at: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/
businesstechnology/2003101281_btfilesharing03.html

Tracking Social Networking Sites?

2006-07-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

From CNET News
Congress targets social-networking sites
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: June 29, 2006, 11:38 AM PDT

Excerpt:
The concept of forcing companies to record information about their users' Internet activities to aid in future criminal prosecutions took another twist this week.
Rep. Diana DeGette, a Colorado Democrat, originally proposed legislation (click here for PDF) in April that would require Internet service providers to retain activity logs to aid in criminal investigations, including ones involving child abuse.
Now DeGette and some of her colleagues in the House of Representatives are suggesting that social-networking sites should be required to do the same thing.
http://news.com.com/Congress+targets+social-networking+sites/
2100-1028_3-6089574.html?tag=nefd.top

Who's behind MySpace

2006-06-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

In the July 2006 issue of Wired, an interesting article on Rupert Murdoch and his media empire, which is spreading onto the internet.
Will the desire to turn MySpace into a marketing venue ruin the chaotic culture that makes it so appealing?

Read:
His Space
Twilight of the media moguls? Not for this guy. With the $580 million purchase of MySpace, News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch is betting he can transform a free social network into a colossal marketing machine.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/14.07/murdoch.html

Reply to the "Digital Latchkey Kid"

2006-06-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Stephen Downes replies to my "Digital latchkey kid" post.

He points out:
"The problem with protecting kids by regulating what kids can see boils down, therefore, to this: as soon as you attempt to extend that protection outside the home, your own ideas about what is safe and proper come into conflict with others' ideas, and this problem becomes more and more intractable the more diverse society becomes and the wider the area you seek to govern.

And my own concern is this: when such matters become a matter for decision-making by governmental authorities, then the voices of those who profit most by exploiting and in some way injuring your kids become the loudest and the most influential. While it is always the hope of parents that governmental controls will eventually reflect their own values, this rarely ever happens."
http://halfanhour.blogspot.com/2006/06/
adults-and-myspace-2.html

I wholeheartedly agree, but the proposed course of action (become more tolerant, teach your kids to play safe, and allocate the responsibility for bad behaviour where it lies), while completely valid, lacks the immediacy of a solution for parents who are in the trenches, right now, today. I'm not talking about immediate gratification here, but I think it puts us in an awfully uncomfortable situation to be told to wait until our society and our culture rises to the challenge and self-polices itself. I am fully prepared to manually filter for my kids - but how many parents, failing to understand the immensity of what's on the net, will watch as their kids become unwitting causalties of this process?
To be honest, I don't have a proposed solution today, but I sense that having discussions like this is essential, and so I keep beating the drum. I am thankful that others have joined the dialogue.

Podcasting under seige?

2006-06-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

Some interesting reading and a few links about the state of podcasting, where it's been and where it's going:
http://wired.com/news/culture/media/0,71257-0.html?tw=wn_index_2

Academic: Social Software in a Teaching and Learning Context

2006-06-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

For an interesting reflection on application of some of the most popular social networking tools, check out:
Three Stars and a Chili Pepper: Social Software, Folksonomy, and User Reviews in the College Context
at:
http://www.academiccommons.org/commons/
essay/Ugoretz-social-software-folksonomy

Trouble in Second Paradise?

2006-06-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

Very interesting goings on in the virtual world of Second Life. The proprietors, Linden Labs, changed registration models on June 6 from one that required a credit card validation step (and hence some tie to a real person) to one that does not, referred to as "validation-free". This has caused a certain amount of consternation among Second Life residents, particularly merchants, with regard to the potential for anonymous misbehavior and subsequent increase of abuse reports (AR's).
Though it may seem arcane, I think there will be plenty of lessons learned as Second Life transitions into a more anonymous realm as new residents join and established residents create alternative (alt) accounts and avatars.

To read about the issue, check out
http://secondlife.blogs.com/change/2006/06/
update_open_reg.html
and
http://secondlife.blogs.com/change/2006/06/
though_you_may_.html

To learn more about Second Life, check out the recent Business Week article:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/
06_18/b3982001.htm

Lev Gonick and the future of mobile computing

2006-06-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of June 2006, I watched a webcast via CSU-Monterey Bay's Ready2Net program that included a segment on mobile computing. The panel included Lev Gonick, the CIO at Case Western Reserve. Since he had been relatively successful a few years back at predicting some of the tech trends we see emerging today, Lev was asked to look 3 to 5 years out again.

Gonick said:
“In the next three years or so we will hopefully not be talking about mobility as an infrastructure project, it will all be about collaboration and collaboration tools.

And I think (universities who are creating content, vendors, partners, libraries, park systems and the like)…it will be how we use those collaborative tools.

I’m less sure that we’re going to see new devices, although there will be new form factors.
What will be distinctive will be the ability to have presence, the idea that, at any point in time, you can - if you choose to - be followed through your mobile technology and not only be able to be tracked (again, with your permission), but be able to have the kinds of interactions that you’re interested in, whether those are database, IM, SMS, voice-based, or whether they will in fact be interactive video-based.
And I think those are the things - all of which are going to sit on a mobile platform - that we’re going to see. It’s going to be much less of a spectator sport and much, much more of a contact sport in the next five years.”

- Lev Gonick, Vice President, Information Technology Services, CIO, Case Western Reserve University, Board Chair of OneCleveland.
From the June 1, 2006, Ready2Net webcast on “The Mobile User”, from The Wireless Community & Mobile User Conference at California State University - Monterey Bay, CA.
http://ready2net.csumb.edu/

I admire Lev because he went to Cleveland and rallied the community, CWRU and vendors around a great idea centered on emerging technology spread across and benefitting the community at large - town and gown extraordinaire. I spent my "wonder bread years" growing up in the suburbs of Cleveland, rode the Rapid Transit downtown, saw (and completely failed to appreciate) the Cleveland Orchestra and Museum of Art as a grade-schooler, and am still a hopeless (and I do mean hopeless) Indians and Browns fan.

Why kids do what they do on MySpace, part 2

2006-06-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

I just had an interesting discussion with a colleague, who had a recent experience with a youth posting materials on MySpace. One of his postings indicated (more or less bragged) that, among other things, he had lied to my colleague, who was in a position of authority over the youth. He had denied lying previously, but now was confronted with a hard copy of his own testimonial.

So I inquired, thinking back to earlier comments in this blog, if he had asked the kid why he posted such stuff. The response was that he didn't think anyone else would read it - that it would somehow remain personal between himself and the friend he was posting it for. Hadn't really put it together that "world" is the first "w" in worldwideweb. And again, this kid was a leader, an exemplar in many ways.

This seems to go back to the acute need for network literacy - that kids need to develop an awareness of just how far their comments get distributed in this medium, who can read them, and what they can do with the information.
It also reaffirms the need for positive models in this venue - for every negative use, be it bullying, flaming, bragging, and so on, there need to be demonstrations of positive interactions and the value that such interactions have on community building.

ADDED July 13, 2006:
I was digging around and found an older article recalling more interesting tales of how college kids are unaware of exactly who's viewing their musings on the most popular social sites (or unable to censor themselves!). Well worth a read in the context of this posting - in particular take a look at the last section, entitled "A Little Sunshine can be a Dangerous Thing".

From the Chronicle of Higher Education Information Technology section, dated January 20, 2006:
Think Before You Share
Students' online socializing can have unintended consequences
By BROCK READ

Excerpt:
When Pennsylvania State University's resurgent football team scored a victory last October against its archrival from Ohio State University, throngs of students rushed the field and set off something of a postgame riot. Overwhelmed, campus police had difficulty identifying the perpetrators and made only two arrests on game day.

But less than a week after the game, Tyrone Parham, the university's assistant director of police, got an unexpected tip: Several students had posted pictures online of their friends storming the field. Campus police officers logged onto Facebook, the immensely popular social-networking site, and found a student group titled, unsubtly enough, "I Rushed the Field After the OSU Game (And Lived!)"

http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i20/20a03801.htm

Who's Watching?

2006-06-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

Pentagon sets its sights on social networking websites

Excerpt:
New Scientist has discovered that Pentagon's National Security Agency, which specialises in eavesdropping and code-breaking, is funding research into the mass harvesting of the information that people post about themselves on social networks. And it could harness advances in internet technology - specifically the forthcoming "semantic web" championed by the web standards organisation W3C - to combine data from social networking websites with details such as banking, retail and property records, allowing the NSA to build extensive, all-embracing personal profiles of individuals.

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/
mg19025556.200-pentagon-sets-its-sights-on-social-networking-websites.html

What is MySpace anyway?

2006-06-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

"Identity Production in a Networked Culture: Why Youth Heart MySpace"

danah boyd is a member of the Digital Youth team at UC Berkeley, and has been studying the why's and how's of MySpace since its inception. In a talk to the AAAS she looks at what MySpace is all about and why youth find this digital public space so appealing.

In particular, she points out: "Teenager's space segmentation is slightly different [than adults]. Most of their space is controlled space. Adults with authority control the home, the school, and most activity spaces. Teens are told where to be, what to do and how to do it. Because teens feel a lack of control at home, many don't see it as their private space.
To them, private space is youth space and it is primarily found in the interstices of controlled space. These are the places where youth gather to hang out amongst friends and make public or controlled spaces their own. Bedrooms with closed doors, for example."

So in some ways, though the parent or caregiver may be home, the digital latchkey kid is now left alone in their own bedroom, but with a portal to the entire networked world. Reminds me of 'Alice Through the Looking Glass'. I understand the need for kids to have private space, but I still think the flaw in the MySpace model is that the private space they seek, while away from adults who know them and control many of their other spaces, is smack dab in the middle of space inhabited by others, including adults who are anonymous strangers. Though the youth may choose to ignore these others and focus on their own network of friends, we can't say the same of all the participants.

From the conclusion:
"Youth are not creating digital publics to scare parents - they are doing so because they need youth space, a place to gather and see and be seen by peers. Publics are critical to the coming-of-age narrative because they provide the framework for building cultural knowledge. Restricting youth to controlled spaces typically results in rebellion and the destruction of trust. Of course, for a parent, letting go and allowing youth to navigate risks is terrifying. Unfortunately, it's necessary for youth to mature.

What we're seeing right now is a cultural shift due to the introduction of a new medium and the emergence of greater restrictions on youth mobility and access. The long-term implications of this are unclear. Regardless of what will come, youth are doing what they've always done - repurposing new mediums in order to learn about social culture.

Technology will have an effect because the underlying architecture and the opportunities afforded are fundamentally different. But youth will continue to work out identity issues, hang out and create spaces that are their own, regardless of what technologies are available."

From danah boyd's blog, a summary of her presentation to
The American Association for the Advancement of Science
Annual Meeting, February 19, 2006
http://www.danah.org/papers/AAAS2006.html

School/Library ban on social sites proposed...

2006-06-23T16:10:00.000-07:00

US law proposed to ban library access to social websites

According to the proposed legislation (~May 10, 2006), the bill
"prohibits access by minors without parental authorization to a commercial social networking website or chat room through which minors may easily access or be presented with obscene or in- decent material; may easily be subject to unlawful sexual advances, unlawful requests for sexual favors, or repeated offensive comments of a sexual nature from adults may easily access other material that is harmful to minors."

LA Times article:
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fi-myspace12may12,1,5165050.story?coll=la-news-a_section

More information and opinions at VALIS, Learning.now, Boing Boing, TechDirt, and Danah Boyd's (no relation) apophenia blog

Libraries and Social Sites

2006-06-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

Libraries in Social Networking Software
Posted May 10, 2006

A thoughtful post by Meredith Farkas, librarian and author of Information Wants to Be Free. At the end there is also a gaggle of links to "Useful Resources on Libraries and Social Networking Software".

Excerpt:
"Whether we like it or not, our patrons between the ages of 16 and 25 overwhelmingly use MySpace and Facebook, and are not going to stop using them no matter what policies we put in place. As librarians who should know our users, we should at least be aware of what they’re doing online and see what roles the library can play in our patrons’ online social worlds."
http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/
index.php/2006/05/10/libraries-in-social-networking-software

Internet Detective site launched

2006-06-23T15:08:00.000-07:00

Free online tutorial for Information Literacy,
launched June 13, 2006

From the 'Brief' page:
"Welcome to Internet Detective - a free online tutorial that will help you develop Internet research skills for your university and college work. The tutorial looks at the critical thinking required when using the Internet for research and offers practical advice on evaluating the quality of web sites."

From the press release:
“Students are increasingly turning to the Internet to find information for their coursework or assignments, but they can be naïve in the sources they choose. There is concern among lecturers and librarians that students often degrade their work by referencing inappropriate information sources and by failing to use the key scholarly materials that they should be using.” (Emma Place, University of Bristol, co- author of Internet Detective).
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/

MySpace responds amid flurry of complaints

2006-06-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

MySpace bolsters defenses, faces sex predator suit

Reuters (via Washington Post) Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Excerpt:
MySpace.com, the top online teen hangout, said on Tuesday it will bolster protection for minors amid a flurry of complaints about sexual predators prowling the site and a lawsuit filed on Monday by a teenage girl charging it with negligent security practices.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/20/AR2006062001281.html

MySpace and the 1st Amendment?

2006-06-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

How much space to give MySpace users?
Schools weigh control versus 1st Amendment

From June 4, 2006 San Diego Union-Tribune
Excerpt:
"When a Del Mar Heights Elementary student created a page on MySpace, the epicenter of youth gossip, she unexpectedly elicited a torrent of obscene and hateful e-mails, turning her secure schoolyard into a menacing playground."
...and further on...
“The kids think because they do it away from school that it's all fair game,” Van Zant said. “What they don't realize is what happens on MySpace has an impact at school, and then we have to act. All of a sudden, the girls are arguing at school. Now there's bad feelings.”
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/education/20060604-9999-1n4myspace.html

"Why parents must mind MySpace"

2006-06-23T10:47:00.000-07:00

Why parents must mind MySpace
Posting too much information on social networking sites may be dangerous

From MSNBC, April 5, 2006.
Excerpt: Parry Aftab, internet lawyer and safety expert, says: "They’re afraid of their kids. They somehow think because technology is involved, they’re no longer the parent. Get real. You’re the parent. If you don’t like it, unplug the computer. If they don’t follow your rules, no Internet at all. If you’re not the parent and if you’re not going to step in, no Web site on earth is going to be able to help your child be safe."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11064451/

Cornell's FaceBook Statement

2006-06-23T08:55:00.000-07:00

See Cornell University's new statement regarding FaceBook.

(Referenced in the June 21, 2006 Chronicle of Higher Education "Wired Campus Blog" http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/1358/social-networking-101)

An excerpt:
"Facebook is a cool tool," writes Tracy Mitrano, director of information-technology policy at Cornell University, in an online message to Cornell students. But the popular site, she says, "creates as many obligations as it does opportunities for expression."
Cornell's FaceBook statement is at: http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/memos/facebook.html.

Mother and Daughter Explore MySpace

2006-06-22T15:36:00.000-07:00

Testing the Bounds of MySpace
A writer learns a lot from an experiment with the popular social networking site -- especially about her 13-year-old daughter.

From April 8, 2006 Los Angeles Times
Excerpt:
"It was more the shock of discovering a different Taylor, a cool-teen version of the girl who used to cuddle up on the couch and watch cooking shows with me. My daughter was too young for such an uncensored world, I decided."
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-myspace8apr08,0,2694175.story

Tech Bubble for Kids...

2006-06-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Tech creates a bubble for kids

From June 20, 2006 USA Today:
Excerpt: "They're tuned out in some ways to the social graces around them and the people in their lives, in their physical realm, and tuned in to the people they're with virtually," says psychologist and sociologist Sherry Turkle of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/techcreatesabubbleforkids

The "Digital Latchkey Kid"

2006-06-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

My response to Stephen Downes' post on his Half an Hour blog:

I don't think we're too far apart in general, but I think my specifics are being driven by the immediacy of being a parent looking for real time solutions.
We're also sloshing about between issues like information literacy (Googling) and age-appropriate socializing (MySpace).

In terms of information literacy, I would agree in general that "people who spend more time online are more able to deal with these issues", but again in the absence of applicable guidance, training and modeling, they may not necessarily deal with them in the most thoughtful or judicious way. I could teach myself how to drive a car, but that wouldn't mean I knew that I was supposed to always yield to pedestrians (not the best example but it will have to do!).
I agree that if we throw kids off of myspace we are punishing them for badly behaving adults (and this really is the core of the problem), which is why the cocktail party metaphor still holds for me. We don't invite kids to come with us to drink and spit and swear - we gather with other adults and find age-appropriate things for the kids to do in the meantime, with other kids, and depending on age, a sitter.

And we don't plop the kids in the middle of the party and hope that the sitter models good behavior - we take them to another room, another house, "off site" as it were.
We don't go into bars or night clubs with our kids and ask the adults already there to behave "age-appropriately" or try to moderate their behavior (whether we ourselves are well behaved or not), we simply don't take our kids there. So why should we treat this medium differently?
If we say "Hey, adults, tone it down in there!", they will (rightly) say "Piss off - this is a free and open venue!"

I disagree that children act badly as a result of cumulative exposure - i.e. because they are exposed to bad behavior in all aspects of life. We talk all the time about how if we just provide the right tools, the right ideals, the right models, that kids will come out allright. But I have heard and read many stories of parents who were completely aghast upon discovering the racy content of their "model" child's myspace profile, blog, etc.. I believe that many otherwise great kids will act badly when they see others behaving badly and the opportunity presents itself for them to try it. Again, I think this is what kids do - it is part of being a kid.

Another example used in The Tipping Point refers, if I recall correctly, to an experiment where a group of otherwise exemplary adults are placed in a prison-like situation. Surprisingly their behavior to one another degrades to stupendous levels fairly rapidly. Something about human nature and/or mob mentality is at work here.

Though they can disconnect at any time, it seems far too many do not. There are at least two issues here - one is simply the problem of spending so much time connected to a computer rather than seeking actual human companionship.
The other is that if confronted with disturbing content, many kids may simply "change channels" - go look somewhere else, but in some ways, if they continue collecting experiences like this they are only reinforcing the idea that bad behavior is acceptable - "_everyone_ is doing it!". While they do have the power to silence an adult (anyone, really) in this venue, many are like the long lines of drivers plodding past a wreck on the highway - you should look away, but you just can't. There is something viscerally human in this sort of curiosity, perhaps not unlike the Germans' Schadenfreude.

I'm sure it has been brought up before, but I'm concluding that we need to create an age appropriate place for kids, that has all of the appealing attributes of myspace, but in an environment where adults and other kids model and moderate. I can imagine all sorts of shortcomings of such a plan, the biggest being that if myspace continues to let anyone in (they don't _really_ verify age), then it becomes the forbidden fruit that the "cool kids" all partake of. So unless myspace and other similar venues play along it is likely a pipe dream.

The solution my wife and I have arrived at is that we do not let our 10 and 12 year old surf unattended. We have very tight content filters on our browsers. We haven't even talked about MySpace or social computing tools at this stage (and they are admittedly too young for that anyway). This may not surprise you, given all that I have written. What worries me is the number of parents - sane, rational, thoughtful, intelligent parents (friends!) - who do not provide similar levels of guidance and boundaries.

"Far better they interact in an environment that can be monitored and watched very easily by parents and police." But what if there's no one watching? A new "digital latchkey kid".
My kids will find titillating stuff at their unsupervised friends' houses, and I acknowledge there is little I can do except ask lots of questions and remain very involved in my kids' lives - and I am not complaining about that.

I have also started to take steps to educate the parents of our kids' most frequent playmates - see for example http://btc.montana.edu/distributed/boyd/parents_guide1/. Though it is crude at this stage, I'd be interested in any comments.

I agree unfortunately that "asking adults to act like adults may be more idealistic than practical". And this extends to our advertisers and media moguls who are more interested in ratings and revenue than helping parents be good parents.
In the meantime, by failing to address these very complicated issues we are effectively robbing our children of their childhoods, of that blissful innocence when all that mattered was kickball and clarinet lessons.

I am not in favor of censorship. But I do not believe the model of adults mingling with kids in an "anything goes" venue is sustainable, socially or economically.

Why kids do what they do on MySpace

2006-06-20T21:40:00.000-07:00

My response to Stephen Downes' comments in OLDaily June 8:

As a parent and technology guy, I am extremely concerned about kids (by that I will loosely say anyone under 18, certainly anyone under 16) using myspace and other social sites.
The problem I have with these sites centers around the fact that they are the online equivalent of kids attending a cocktail party and mixing with adult strangers of every shape and motivation.

The reason I think more introspection isn't happening is that far too many teachers and parents do not understand enough about the power of this technology, and the potential impact on kids. While parents might say 4 hours of video games is enough, they seem reluctant to draw boundaries around social computing/chat/IM. Parents don't use it, haven't seen the range of stuff that's on it, and so rather than err on the side of caution throw open the doors lest they be branded as uncool by their kids.

Similarly, if you look at how the majority of teachers handle internet use, I'll wager that far too often there is little understanding of the needs of young minds to be able to purposefully, effectively and safely use this medium. Many may think if they simply say "you can use the internet" for research, that they have checked the technology box - but how often do teachers ask how a student conducted her research, what role the parents played, which were primary resources, etc.? I fear that we are raising a generation that will be unable to manually sift through text to determine arguments, core points or concepts.

I think the type of pathology represented by spending untold hours online is only now beginning to be understood and studied for adults - never mind the impact on young minds.
Teachers, parents, and administrators don't/can't ask 'why do they behave this way?' because they don't understand the medium. They have no frame of reference as to what is appropriate and not, since they have not participated in the culture.

I have two comments about 'what would lead a student to think that this is appropriate':
1) If you were to ask, I bet many would say they don't really know - the reason being that they are simply exploring various forms of independence and risk taking (as teens are well known for), and things that might have ten years ago simply been said among pals in the parking lot of a 7-11 are now published on the web for all to see. Watch interviews with high school kids who act out or behave poorly socially or academically - when asked why they do it or if they have thought about the consequences, they simply say they don't know. Or they haven't thought about it. Or don't care. Unfortunately, none of those responses provide insights or avenues for modifying the behaviors.

2) Look at who is modeling online behavior in myspace - it is largely adults who post provocative photos and language. Kids see this, take it as acceptable and cool, and do it themselves. Again, typical behavior for teens.
Add a lack of modeling of positive or acceptable behavior in this venue by teachers and parents, and voila - negative models yield negative results. How much time do _you_ spend posting things on myspace? I don't. Who does? - far too often it is people with an axe to grind, show offs, exhibitionists, etc..

If you haven't read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, take a look at the section on smoking and why teens take it up - I see strong parallels here. Myspace and other similar social sites are the 'behind the shed' of the millenials.

What's with the name of this blog?

2006-06-20T16:26:00.000-07:00

I came up with the concept of a "Digital Latchkey Kid" in a roundabout way. A colleague forwarded me the June 8 issue of Stephen Downes' OLDaily newsletter, which included a link to a recent story about San Diego area school officials trying to monitor student activity on MySpace. I took exception to his comment "Instead of trying to hide everything again by blocking MySpace, or to punish people after the fact, why not ask, 'what would lead a student to think that this is appropriate?' .” I suggested that kids are doing what kids do, which is behave as they see others behave, in this case an assortment of adults and kids behaving badly.

Stephen was nice enough to use some of my comments in a follow up posting on his “Half an hour” blog. One of his comments was "Far better they interact in an environment that can be monitored and watched very easily by parents and police." And my reply was “But what if there's no one watching? A new ‘digital latchkey kid’.”

So there you have it – just as some kids come home to an empty house, we are witnessing a relatively new phenomenon of kids spending hours on the network, unmonitored by their parents, who, most being some variation of Marc Prensky’s “digital immigrants”, have no context or basis upon which to determine what is an appropriate amount of time to spend, and what sort of activities or places they should be most concerned about.

Welcome

2006-06-20T16:16:00.000-07:00

The goal of this blog is track opinions and references to digital culture in our society, in particular as it is used by and impacts kids (humans under the age of 18 years old).
The germ of the idea for a blog came from an ongoing discussion and debate about the merits and pitfalls of such social networking sites as MySpace, Bebo, and Facebook.

I apologize in advance for the lousy grammar that is inevitably part of the blogosphere.